RoyalDude wrote:I see Kassian was once again very noticeable, lighting it up again tonight, points galore. Has Archibald passed him in points yet?

Kassian - 153rd in points in AHL....sweet numbers

Did you watch the game ?

How many times have you seen him play this season ?

3 times B Mac and that was all I needed. I'm a stats man, stats don't lie. What about this Archibald cat? He's lighting it up.

Seriously Blobby, it's not just me, general consensus so far is that Kassian isn't looking to good right now. He needs to start putting some more weight on the gas pedal. Too busy watching the play instead of being pro-active.

"I just want to say one word to you. Just one word. Are you listening? - Plastics." - The Graduate

After a little bit of a slow start to his collegiate hockey career, Jeremy Price has come on strong, and he has developed into one of the top offensive threats of any ECAC defensive contingent.

The Vancouver Canucks prospect has continued to show statistical improvement since his freshman season. He had 14 points in his freshman season, 19 the next, and 23 points last season. So far in his senior season, Price is off to a strong start with four goals and six assists.

“He is a quiet guy, but he goes about his business. He has always seen solid minutes, but I think he is playing with a new-found confidence. He is winning a lot of puck battles, which is really important in the defensive end. I think the last few games he has been playing his best few games ever. He is taking charge of the puck, and he is lugging it up the ice more than he had. He is in a good place.”

Although Price's stats may have been a little bit lower to start, that could also be because Colgate held him back a bit due to his importance to the team’s defensive play.

“We kind of held Jeremy back a little bit at the beginning,” Vaughan said. “We were really trying to get him to hone his defensive side because we knew his offensive abilities were already there.”

Now that Price has developed his defensive side he has become an important asset in the Raiders defensive end, especially on the penalty kill.

“Being on the penalty kill is a large responsibility, but I enjoy being out there with a man down because of all the pressure that is on you,” Price said. “I like to get the guys pumped up on the bench when I fire the puck down the ice.”

Price is often relied upon to run the Raiders power-play, so special teams is a very important role that he plays.

“The power-play is a huge responsibility as it can often win or lose a game [for us],” Price said. “Personally, I try and control things from up top, create some plays for other guys from moving along the line and take the shot when the lane is there. I enjoy skating the puck up on the breakout and ensuring we get a solid entry.”

The Colgate captain does a lot more for his team than would meet the eye because of the way he can inspire his teammates. His leadership abilities have helped Colgate fight back in the times when things don’t look so good.

“He is a quiet leader for us, but over the past month or so he is starting to get a lot more vocal out,” Vaughan said. “When we were down, 4-1, against Dartmouth, he was the guy on the bench that helped inspire us to come back and win, 5-4. He gave us the energy to do it, and it was really all him.”

As a Canucks prospect, Price has also had the opportunity to compete in Vancouver’s summer development camps, which has helped his progression. In addition to helping Price progress, his coach has seen a new found confidence in him when he returns to Colgate from the camps.

“I think not only for Jeremy, but every kid that goes to those camps is great for the player and us,” Vaughan said.

“I think it is wonderful some of our guys get the opportunity to do that because it helps them develop and improve. He has absolutely come back with more confidence because players can sort of gauge themselves against some of the top prospects that are high draft picks. It can only do one thing and that is make them more confident about their own game.”

As a senior, Price will have the opportunity to make the jump to the professional level. Although that may not be too far away, he has to remain focused on the goal at hand now.

“It is hard not think about [turning pro], but as of right now I am trying to just take it one game at a time,” Price said. “I can’t be worrying about going pro right now.”

As long as Price continues to grow like he has in college, he should have a very successful career at the professional level.

Well some of the best propsects (McNally & Price )are older than permitted and the others have been injured ( Gaunce ) or overseas and are not NA (Jensen**) Gaunce was never going to beat out RNH and he was injured earlier and frankly they don't take chnace with injured players because they have a limited roster. I'm sure Corrado will be an NHL players as will Tanev.

The WJC are also very political from all reports. Both Bob McKenzie and Ray Ferraro penciled in Corrado as the #5 D on the roster.

I don't think it's as bad as you're painting it. Our Current roster has 10 players drafted or undrafted UFA. I would think considering they're drafting pretty low for quite a while not to bad plus of course we lost Bourdon.

I will say this you have to be concerned about Kassian with his spotty play, could be marturity. But he just doesn't seem able to put together any consistency. One thing I've noticed about kids, there's an awful lot that play to the level of their team or the opposition. Kassian might be that type, plays better with better level players. Remember Frank Mahovilich, you had to get the guy mad or motivated for him to play his best.

One of the points continuously overlooked by amongst other HF's web site Is they make sweeping statement about teams having great depth or do not have depth of propspects when the fact is maybe 1 or 2 a year actually ever make the NHL, apart that is for teams like the Oilers who have been picking first over all for a long time. Most drafts produce about 50-60 NHL players ( not stars just players every year ) split amongst 30 teams that's not a lot

**Nicklas Jensen 29 games, 12 goals and you have to remember this is the SEL not junior hockey where half the team is 18 or under

Gaunce.Bellville is the 4th over all in the league, but you can see the coaches philosophy shine through. They have lowest GA of the top 4 teams and also the lowest GF. If you have to look at a similar type you have to think of a Kesler type. Kesler never really broke out until they moved him to wing and put him with Sundin as his centre. Gaunce's time will come and he's a big boy as is Jensen and Kassian ...maybe Archibald. MG has over come his penchant to go for skill skill skill regardless of size and is looking at the fact that big wins in the NHL

RoyalDude wrote:How many Canuck prospects will there be in the up coming WJC's?

Definitely disappointing. I like to cheer for future Canucks at that tournament and wont even be able to cheer on Jensen since Denmark didn't even make it this year. I think Wotherspoon edging out Corrado is a terrible decision by Team Canada. Frank was the go-to guy in that pairing during the tryouts and I cant reason that one out. It was my first look at how he plays and I was quite impressed with his defensive game and poise with the puck. Also, he has a good first pass on the breakout and gets his shots through the from the point with consistency. He doesn't have a howitzer but its low and on net. He racks up the points with this and those points would be welcome to a team like the one Canada will send that I fear will have trouble scoring.

RoyalDude wrote:How many Canuck prospects will there be in the up coming WJC's?

Definitely disappointing. I like to cheer for future Canucks at that tournament and wont even be able to cheer on Jensen since Denmark didn't even make it this year. I think Wotherspoon edging out Corrado is a terrible decision by Team Canada. Frank was the go-to guy in that pairing during the tryouts and I cant reason that one out. It was my first look at how he plays and I was quite impressed with his defensive game and poise with the puck. Also, he has a good first pass on the breakout and gets his shots through the from the point with consistency. He doesn't have a howitzer but its low and on net. He racks up the points with this and those points would be welcome to a team like the one Canada will send that I fear will have trouble scoring.

I guess the real question is, how many of Mike Gillis draft picks, outside of Hodgson, played in the WJC's? He's been to the draft table 5 times now.

"I just want to say one word to you. Just one word. Are you listening? - Plastics." - The Graduate